The day the corrupt lunatic and (former?) Miami Lakes Mayor Michael Pizzi was acquitted of federal charges last August he didn’t go home to spend time with his family after a long ordeal. Or go to church to thank God for the outcome of his case.

Instead, he dashed to Miami Lakes Town Hall with a gaggle of cameras in tow. He ran into the mayor’s office and council chambers, kissing his desk and sitting from chair to chair in what can only be described as a bizarre, low-class show of buffoonery before the news cameras.

He thought he was going to be reinstated mayor that day. But he wasn’t.

After he was indicted, Miami Lakes held a special election to fill the vacancy left by Pizzi’s suspension. The Town Charter clearly stipulates that an election to fill such a vacancy must be held if there is more than six months left in the mayor’s term. Wayne Slaton was therefore duly elected in that special election, and the Town, its council and attorney, as well as the governor consider consider him the mayor for the remainder of the term.

Needless to say, power-hungry corrupt lunatic Michael Pizzi wants his old job back, as well as his legal bills paid for by the Town’s taxpayers, which at this rate may exceed $1 million. So this week he filed a lawsuit in Miami-Dade County Circuit Court to be reinstated as mayor, which would nullify the election in which Wayne Slaton was duly elected.

Enter Mary Collins.

The lawsuit Pizzi filed against the Town of Miami Lakes names Mary Collins as his co-plaintiff. In it, she alleges that as an “elector and resident” of Miami Lakes, she voted for Pizzi in 2012 with the intention that he serve a full, ,four-year term, and therefore wants him restored.

And that’s fine. It’s totally legal and there’s nothing that precludes him from naming her or any other Miami Lakes voter as a co-plaintiff to make this case. This argument and others he and Collins make in the lawsuit may very well get Pizzi reinstated eventually, and although detestable, I do not blame Pizzi for pursuing every avenue. As a corrupt lunatic and egomaniac, he is doing exactly what he needs to do to fulfill that role. He is who he is.

However, Collins’ willingness to lend herself to this endeavor speaks volumes and reflects very poorly on her character and judgment.

Let’s recall that Collins–an octogenarian–has been involved in politics for decades. She has been a Republican Party Executive Committeewoman and State Committeewoman, a Miami-Dade County Commissioner and most recently a 14-year Miami Lakes Councilwoman. She ran for reelction in 2012, but was defeated by current Councilman Manny Cid, whom we supported. And the reason we did, as we’ve discussed, is because she was a rubber stamp for Pizzi during her last several years in office.

And while just about every decent South Florida elected official and Miami Lakes resident–including Miami Lakes councilmembers who once upon a time were Pizzi loyalists–have ran away from the now-toxic, corrupt lunatic Michael Pizzi, Mary Collins disgraces herself by embracing him.

Michael Pizzi being hauled off by federal agents

Indeed, Pizzi was found “not guilty” as a matter of criminal law, but he is anything but innocent. This is a guy who was indicted for using his position as mayor and a municipal lawyer to push a deal he knew was bogus in exchange for money. He took an envelope stuffed with cigars and $2000 cash, and then claimed he left it in a public bathroom. On a separate occasion he took a bagman with him into a closet to secretly get paid his $3000 cash. For this, and other several other things, he was charged with extortion and four counts of bribery.

Then there was the time back in 2010 when Pizzi was recorded by a former cop wearing a wire that he wanted to get rid of one of his political adversaries on the Town Council Richard Pulido by paying someone $100,000 to plant cocaine on him or sabotage the brakes on his car.

These are not the actions of a misunderstood person in wrong places at wrong times. These bizarre acts are a pattern of sociopathic behavior by a corrupt, egomaniacal lunatic who should never again be placed in a position of trust.

So I would like to ask Mary Collins, who I’m sure will read this: Why?

Why lend yourself to any effort that would restore a reprobate like Michael Pizzi to office? Even if you believe he is legally entitled to it, why assist such an effort? An obvious murderer getting off on a technicality or lack of evidence does not make him any less of a murderer. Likewise, given what he actually did, Michael Pizzi’s verdict does not make him any less corrupt. During his seven-week trial, he never contested the fact that he accepted those bribes or that he was using his official positions to obtain them., He merely claimed “entrapment.”

Mary, it pains me to write this because you and I have had a cordial relationship over the years. But honestly, you should be ashamed of yourself. You who had a public building in Miami Lakes designated in your honor by the very council members and Mayor Slaton you are now betraying.

Why would you jeopardize your legacy so late in life for someone so undeserving? Instead of being remembered for your years of public service and community activism you risk being remembered as a corrupt politician’s lackey. Very sad.

]]>http://www.reaganista.com/2015/01/08/theres-something-about-mary-collins/feed/1Crist’s pick of running mate a sign of weakness, hubrishttp://www.reaganista.com/2014/07/18/crists-pick-of-running-mate-a-sign-of-weakness-hubris/
http://www.reaganista.com/2014/07/18/crists-pick-of-running-mate-a-sign-of-weakness-hubris/#commentsFri, 18 Jul 2014 21:44:03 +0000http://www.reaganista.com/?p=2242Continue reading →]]>I know I haven’t written here in a while, and that’s because I actually have a life outside of airing my frustrations and smiting my political enemies.

Giving the media and interested parties only a 4-hour notice, the Charlie Crist campaign cobbled together a press event in Miami yesterday to make what they characterized as an “important announcement.” It was for Crist to introduce his running mate Annette Taddeo-Goldstein.

Reviews of his pick have been mixed. Some believe it was “solid,” others not so much. Regardless of that, what is striking is the timing.

For the past several weeks, the Scott/Rich ensemble harmoniously calling for Charlie Crist to debate his primary opponent Nan Rich has grown to a full-fledged choir. Democratic Party activists questioning why Charlie Crist is ducking the opportunity to explain his past transgressions, Congressman Ted Deutch, and even some of the state’s influential newspapers, including the Tallahassee Democrat, Miami Herald, and Democratic stronghold Broward County’s Sun Sentinel have called on him to debate Rich.

Polls even show Democrat primary voters overwhelmingly want to see a Rich/Crist debate. The Rich campaign has wisely seized and doubled-down on those growing calls.

Nevertheless, the yellow-bellied orange coward refuses.

But the bad press doesn’t end there for Crist. He’s also being hammered relentlessly by Republicans for his refusal to release his wife’s income tax returns as past governors, candidates for governor and other elected officials have done. Crist who talks a good game on transparency has said that he’s not involved in his wife’s business dealings, but then it was revealed that he did not disclose the sale of the multimillion dollar condo he and his wife owned on the exclusive and private Fisher Island off Miami Beach. So more people are wondering what else is lurking in those financial records.

And then there’s more bad news for Crist. It’s becoming more and more evident that there are fractures growing within the Democratic party as it relates to his candidacy. Liberal blogs critical of Crist including The Florida Squeeze and Women on the Move are hammering him daily and growing their influence among the rank-and-file, and Nan Rich is crisscrossing the state successfully peeling grassroots activist support away from Crist.

There are even signs that Crist’s support among the African-American community is getting shaky. Last week, rapper, Miami resident, former mayoral candidate, and current radio commentator Luther “Uncle Luke” Campbell weighed in, declaring that “Charlie Crist is no friend to African-Americans in Florida.” Meanwhile, some still blame Crist for the 2010 loss of Florida’s first African-American nominee to the U.S. Senate Kendrick Meek.

All this, coupled with the constant barrage Crist is getting from Nan Rich, Rick Scott, Republicans who hate him, and liberals who just can’t trust him has taken a toll on his recent commanding lead in the polls. Just a couple of months ago, Crist enjoyed double-digit leads in head-to-head polls against Scott, but they have all but evaporated in recent days with some even showing the Republican incumbent ahead. There have been no Rich-Crist Democrat primary election polls conducted recently, but I would guess those numbers have probably somewhat moved against Crist too.

Given all this bad news the Crist campaign has endured and would like to distract from, it’s no wonder they chose to change the discussion by rolling out his running mate this early.

It’s a major sign of weakness, and quite frankly, hubris. For Crist to smugly name a running mate 40 days before a legitimate primary is–to borrow Nan Rich’s words–very presumptuous.

But smug overconfidence isn’t anything new for Charlie Crist. The fact he dismisses Nan Rich daily by refusing to debate her or even acknowledge her presence in the race despite her solid bona fides is Classic Charlie Crist. He did the same thing in 2010–until the underdog Rubio started catching up in fundraising and polls and Crist couldn’t afford to ignore him any longer.

Ultimately, it was the only reason that led him to abandon the Republican Party under whose banner and resources he ran his whole life and made a political career for himself.

Egomaniac Crist even cornered Kendrick Meek at an event and tried to convince him to drop out of the race by offering him his sister’s cross (yes, a cross). This came after days of repeated phone calls, including one at 4am. Around those days, he also lobbied Bill Clinton into convincing Meek to drop out. True to his convictions, Meek refused.

Corner a political opponent at a public event? Call him repeatedly and at 4am? Ask a former president to intercede? Offer him a cross to drop out of the race? What kind of freak engages in such bizarre, creepy behavior? But I digress.

But it seems active, primary Democrat voters are taking notice, which is why Charlie Crist opted to tap longtime party activist and insider Annette Taddeo-Goldstein (whose married–and obviously Jewish–surname is being dropped for campaign purposes).

She has never held public office, but has vied for it, losing a congressional contest against Ileana Ros-Lehtinen in 2008 and two years later a county commission race. She is currently Chairman of the Miami-Dade Democrat Party, as well as Vice Chairman of the Florida Democrat Party, which I’m sure Crist is counting on to help him energize Democrat activists and primary voters.

However, unfortunately for Crist, coverage of his Lt. Governor pick was not reported as widely as one would expect and he would hope. The news was largely eclipsed by the tragic shoot-down of the Malaysian Airliner over Urkaine, as well as a court decision on the state’s gay marriage ban. As longtime Crist surrogate Peter Schorsch tweeted, Crist’s pick of Taddeo as his running mate did not even garner front page headlines in several of the state’s daily publications, including Taddeo’s own hometown newspaper The Miami Herald.

Not caring that there’s a legitimate primary next month, bosses over at the Florida Democratic Party were quick to tout Taddeo, but in their haste to do so fumbled the spelling of her ethnicity. I’m sure the Columbian [sic.] demographic Crist is trying to pander to appreciate it–as does Nan Rich.

Anyway, I almost feel bad for Annette Taddeo. Given his record of treachery and disloyalty, it’s only a matter of time before the #backstabber Charlie Crist betrays her as he has done to so many others. I’m not suggesting he will boot her off his ticket because such an act would surely hurt him politically, and in Crist world, that is the compass that guides every single decision.

However, come November 7, I hope for her sake that Taddeo stands ready to defend herself against Crist when he blames her for their loss.

I think Governor Scott has done a marvelous job cleaning up the mess the reckless Charlie Crist left behind and has been a great governor overall. However, who he picks as LG may very well be a determining factor in a close election come next year.

So because the LG issue has been the talk of Tallahassee lately, I figured I’d throw in my $0.02:

Some have criticized the length of time it has taken to pick a LG; I’m not one of them. I believe it should be a thoughtful, deliberative process rather than a knee-jerk decision based on what benefits you personally (i.e., Charlie Crist tapping his chief-of-staff and campaign manager George LeMieux to fill a US Senate vacancy so he could warm the seat for him and fundraise while in DC).

That being said, criticisms and negative press will continue flowing until a pick is made. The lack of official information coming out of the governor’s office in regard to the LG issue is a vacuum that is and will continue being filled by the “unnamed insider” types leaking information to a hungry media. Whether the information is true or false is not the point: the point is, the governor’s office has little control over the information coming out. Naming an LG restores control on that issue.

Naming an LG also provides another voice and another set of boots on the ground to get your message out.

It is no surprise that Governor Scott, despite his many achievements, is still upside-down on his approval numbers. As such, the party, his campaign and he himself have to focus on bringing up those numbers by touting his accomplishments and staying positive. He is not yet in a position where he can tear down his opponent enough to win, especially if that opponent is Crist whose sunny (and vomitous) disposition is hard to crack.

But his LG can.

That person should be someone who was not a Crist supporter in 2010 after Crist proved himself to be the chronically-absent, corrupt, crony and reckless governor he was. Picking a Republican who supported Crist despite all that would only open the Scott campaign to charges of hypocrisy when they begin to highlight Crist’s abysmal record. As such, Scott needs to pick an LG with the moral authority to effectively tell the story on Charlie Crist–essentially, someone to be the attack dog while Scott himself remains positive.

That person, in my opinion, is Miami-Dade County Property Appraiser and former State House Majority Leader Carlos López-Cantera.

López-Cantera supported Rubio against Crist in 2010. As such, he has never been a Crist apologist, or anything close to one. If/when he attacks Crist, nobody will be able to say, “well, you still supported him for Senate after all that.”

López-Cantera is fluent in Spanish and can cut campaign commercials, appear on radio and television, and directly campaign to Hispanics. And perhaps most importantly, he is from voter-rich Miami-Dade County, which contains the largest number of Republican Hispanics in the state.

Unfortunately, The Miami Herald is reporting today that López-Cantera is being blocked by Scott’s Chief-of-Staff Adam Hollingsworth for consideration to be LG. This is based on the types of unnamed insider sources I mentioned above.

I’m only going by the Herald article here, but if López-Cantera is indeed being blocked because Hollingsworth feels he can’t “control” him, then I would argue this is a bad case of misplaced priorities.

I believe Carlos López-Cantera is a perfect fit for LG. He is a young, successful Hispanic with an attractive family; he has been elected and reelected to office several times; he has held his offices with the maturity and temperament the LG post requires; he has earned a clean, scandal-free reputation; and he is known as a no-nonsense straight-shooter, which will be necessary to counter the buffoonery that is sure to come from the Crist circus freak show.

Therefore the question I would ask Governor Scott is not, “why don’t you consider López-Cantera.” The question is, “what are you waiting for?”

]]>http://www.reaganista.com/2013/12/18/the-time-is-now-for-a-lt-governor-lopez-cantera/feed/1My View: education crisis is America’s new civil rights crisishttp://www.reaganista.com/2013/12/15/my-view-education-is-americas-new-civil-rights-crisis/
http://www.reaganista.com/2013/12/15/my-view-education-is-americas-new-civil-rights-crisis/#commentsMon, 16 Dec 2013 04:31:47 +0000http://www.reaganista.com/?p=2210Continue reading →]]>Imagine if today–in 2013–a group of politicians pulled a George Wallace and stood in a doorway blocking certain students from entering a schoolhouse due to their race and/or societal class.

The outcry against such an act would be heard sea to shining sea with shouts of condemnation so loud they would make an 80s rock concert sound like a harpsichord recital. The politicians behind it would be excoriated and forced out of public life forever–and rightfully so.

Thankfully the bad old days of racial segregation in public schools are long gone, and students of any race, religion and background have full access to public schools.

However, access to the schoolhouse building does not guarantee access to education–that is, the kind of education students need to at the very least be able to provide for themselves and their families as they enter adulthood.

It is no secret that many of our nation’s schools are failing their students. The statistics speak for themselves. But a closer look at those figures, as well as basic observation reveals that those suffering the most are pretty much the same who were denied entry to the schoolhouse in the 1960s.

Many would point the finger at income inequality, nuclear family disintegration, prejudicial barriers, historical hardships, or a combination thereof. I mean, what else could explain that public schools in more affluent white areas outperform their counterparts in minority, less affluent areas and inner cities, especially when in most cases, they receive similar levels of funding from government?

However, asserting those are the reasons for overall education inequality essentially lays the blame on the students and their circumstances rather than on the schools and their administrators and teachers.

School choice has, in my view successfully challenged this axiom, and placed the onus where it belongs: on the schools (and those who operate them).

For years I have been a school choice proponent because I believe that competition among schools and school systems increases quality and efficiency just as it does in the free market.

A few jobs ago, I was the legislative aide to the Florida State Representative that sponsored and shepherded several of Former Governor Jeb Bush’s education reforms through the Florida House of Representatives. In that capacity, I learned a great deal about school choice and the quantifiable gains students make through it. But it never really impacted me on a personal level until last month.

Located in a predominantly black neighborhood in northern Milwaukee, the school is private and accepts vouchers. Although it is a Christian school, it is able to accept taxpayer-funded vouchers after legal challenges to stop it were settled a few years ago. The only condition is that parents may opt their kids out of religious courses, which according to the headmaster, has happened less than half a dozen times.

In 2012, the school’s student body was 100% African-American and split almost evenly among boys and girls. Despite national figures showing African-American students disproportionately performing below other groups, Hope Christian High School boasted a 100% college admission from its 2012 and 2013 graduating classes. As of last month, its 2014 class was well on its way to achieving 100% college admission. Here is a good summary of other results.

Everywhere one turns, there is effective positive reinforcement for the students, which comes from results, not just because. For example, a large wall in the school’s main corridor is adorned with the names and faces of all the seniors who have been accepted to college. Each time a student is accepted to a college, his or her picture with the acceptance letter in hand is displayed up on the wall; those who get accepted to multiple schools get multiple pictures and accolades.

Other walls and bulletin boards colorfully advertise GPA, SAT/ACT, community service and other such eligibility requirements for various colleges, which serves as a constant reminder for the students that their goals are–with effort–well within their reach.

But academic excellence is not all that is taught. Character, proper manners and and a sense of elegance, decorum and eloquence are instilled, which are all eventually necessary for lasting success in most areas of life. Their uniforms consist of starched shirts, plaid skirts for girls and navy blazers for boys.

There is no “personal expression” foolishness or other sorts of distractions via ridiculous, suggestive or flashy name brand attire at this school. On certain days, however, seniors are permitted to wear a team jersey for the college they have been accepted to. #EffectivePositiveReinforcement.

Make no mistake. If most of these students were stuck in the failing schools assigned to them, their lives would be (and likely end up) totally different.

And that brings me back to the civil rights issue.

Civil rights is at least in part about affording people equal opportunity to pursue their dreams and advance themselves. If large segments of our population are being deprived that opportunity due to inferior schools and education, something should be done about it.

And something is being done about it. More and more states are adopting reforms that allow parents more options than the neighborhood public school their kids would otherwise have to attend. It gives parents hope for their kids’ future. I shudder to think where most of those Hope Christian High School students would be If it wasn’t for Wisconsin’s voucher system.

But despite the many successes of school choice reforms, which includes massive anecdotal evidence from the very students that have benefited, there are bureaucrats, administrators, unions, and the politicians beholden to them that stand in the way of many of these liberating reforms.

It stands to reason that the more options parents have, the less power the establishment education system has, not to mention the added pressure to step up its game. As such, their opposition to these reforms in most cases illustrates that it’s not about the children, but about preserving power, political influence, and their own jobs.

I’m sure the preservation of those very things were motivating factors for the segregationists, too.

**UPDATE: 3/18/2014**

Hope Christian School has announced that its senior class has attained a 100% college acceptance rate for the third consecutive year, and has been offered a combined $2million in scholarships.